Author
Topic: Re-launching of Wind and Wire (Read 8610 times)

Bill Binkelman

I don't recall if I specifically asked for advice on whether I should re-launch Wind and Wire and in what form here on this forum (I did ask at ambient@hyperreal and on The Ambient Way and at emforum.info) and since I can't verify that (with the disappearance of past topics on the old board), I'll post this announcement as if I DID ask because that way I can cut-and-paste what I submitted to the other aforementioned venues. If this leaves you scratching your head and thinking "WTF?" well, you'll figure it out...

First of all, my sincere (even if belated) thanks to any and all of you who offered opinions and suggestions on this topic when I asked for them several weeks back. I took all of your ideas under advisement. I appreciated your honesty and the time you took in responding.

Wind and Wire has re-launched, an event that no doubt I will live to regret (or die regretting, I s'pose). As per at least one or two persons' suggestion, I have both a structured site http://www.windandwire.com and a blog http://windandwire.blogspot.com/, which will serve as both a mirror site for reviews and a place for my rants, opinions, and musings on more than just music, although there will be editorializing about that too, I imagine. Hopefully, the blog software I am using will allow subscribers (I think it does), because that's why I'm mirroring the reviews on a blog, so people can get notified when a review pops up.

Please be kind about the design of the site and the blog. I am no graphic artist and the only way I can do this is to do it plain jane. Hey, at least you're getting the site back! I'm also going to re-tool stuff (e.g. the links page) and will also be gradually changing the previous three years of webzine reviews into a different archive-format (and you may as well know I will be deleting some content too).

Feel free to respond to the reviews on the blog or email your comments to me if you prefer to be anonymous. Hopefully, I can keep this going, as long as I don't pressure myself to write tons of reviews. Some of you have indicated in the past that any number of reviews are better than none, so I take you at your word. The first three reviews are in place and these three are close to my previous "normal" review length and style but be prepared for much shorter and/or more "critical" ones to follow eventually as I wean myself off of my old style of reviewing and give myself permission to evolve.

Finally, as I believe I mentioned way back when I first mentioned this possibility, Wind and Wire is now an ambient/EM/electronica ONLY review site/blog. My new age music and related genre reviews will continue to be submitted to New Age Reporter, and I will also continue submitting the occasional ambient review to Roger's fine site, Furthernoise, too (so you can breathe easy, Roger). I may also cross-post some reviews to APK's ambient review venture which he just launched as well.

Again, thanks to all of you who offered opinions and support. It was sincerely appreciated.

I know sometimes just by walking away for quite some time will help one's mental state, I know I just did that with my music for the last 2 years and now my mental state is much better(I think muhahahah)